Portland
Christchurch: Nature and Resilience
Aerial of Christchurch earthquake damage
Tipped off by a friend, I have been reading a couple of posts by Glenn Stewart, a professor of urban ecology in New Zealand. The first, Natural Disasters and the Nature of Cities, looks at the destruction the 2010 Christchurch earthquake caused and moves on to look at how the native vegetation has started to grow in the rubble of the aftermath. This return to nature was due to the shift of using native plants in landscaping prior to the earthquake and to the resiliency of native species. The second post, added just recently, called Temporary Nature’s Potential for Resilience and Liveability, looks at the local effort of creating temporary gardens in the rubble while waiting for reconstruction to occur (this two years out after the event). Rebuilding after large disasters takes time … Read More »
Schools leading the way
The citizens of Portland voted overwhelmingly to pass a bond measure that upgrades a number of Portland schools. It pays for some basic seismic upgrades on a 26 schools and completely modernizes three high schools and one grade school. It is a first step to the modernization of all Portland’s schools, which at the end will be safer, will meet the education needs of today, and will cost less money to operate and maintain. The energy savings alone will help make these schools more sustainable. The school district has also balanced out the safety and energy needs with maintaining the historic fabric that makes many of these schools beloved landmarks.
Out at the coast, the Seaside School District is embarking on a program to rebuild all of the schools to meet the highest seismic standards to insure they will not only … Read More »